The present invention relates to a power supply apparatus for supplying a stabilized voltage (constant voltage/constant frequency), a power supply control apparatus, a power supply control apparatus, and a schedule operation monitor control method for a power supply system. More particularly, this invention relates to a power supply apparatus having a monitor control function for schedule operation in which stop and restart of power supply to a load is automatically performed on the basis of a preset schedule, a power supply control apparatus, and a schedule operation monitor control method for a power supply system.
Conventionally, a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) for supplying a stabilized voltage having a constant voltage/constant frequency is used for a load such as a computer or a communication device which requires very high reliability. The uninterruptible power supply mainly has a function of shaping the waveform of a commercial AC power to supply the power to the load as a stabilized voltage and a function of uninterruptible generating a stabilized voltage from a battery in power outage (power interruption) to supply the stabilized voltage to the load. In this manner, the uninterruptible power supply supplies a stabilized voltage to a load without being influenced by variations in voltage/frequency of a commercial power supply, and its importance increases with rapid development of recent computers and networks. In recent years, in addition to the basic functions described above, a schedule operation function in which a power supply to a load is automatically stopped and restarted is added to an uninterruptible power supply. On the other hand, when maintaining the uninterruptible power supply, in order to always supply a stabilized voltage to a highly reliable load, it is the most important problem how rapidly investigates the cause after a trouble occurs and how to cope with the trouble.
A voltage variation, a frequency variation, and power outage (especially, interruption) occurring in a commercial power supply give very serious damages such as system down, an erroneous operation, and data breakdown to the highly reliable loads of computers (server, various computer terminals, and the like), and the like, peripheral devices (magnetic disk devices, photomagnetic disk devices, printers and the like), and communication devices (exchangers, multiplexing devices, modems, and the like). Therefore, in a conventional art, an uninterruptible power supply is interposed between a commercial power supply and a highly reliable load to supply a stabilized voltage having a constant voltage/constant frequency from the uninterruptible power supply to the highly reliable load.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional uninterruptible power supply 1. The uninterruptible power supply 1 shown in FIG. 7 shapes the waveform of a commercial AC voltage (AC) input to the power supply input unit 2, and then supplies the voltage to a not shown computer (the highly reliable load). The uninterruptible power supply 1 has a schedule operation function of automatically stopping/restarting power supply to the computer according to a preset schedule.
In the uninterruptible power supply 1, a not shown charger (AC/DC converter) charges a battery 4 in an uninterruptible state, and the battery 4 supplies a DC voltage to a not shown DC/AC converter when power outage (interruption) occurs. In the DC/AC converter, a DC voltage from the battery 4 is converted into a stabilized voltage. An uninterruptible switch 5 is turned on to the power supply input unit 2 side in an uninterruptible state, and the uninterruptible switch 5 is uninterruptedly turned on to the battery 4 side when power outage occurs. More specifically, the uninterruptible switch 5 is uninterruptedly switched from a commercial AC voltage to a backup input obtained by the battery 4 when power outage occurs.
An output switch 6 is a switch for turning on/off a power supply from the uninterruptible power supply 1 to the computer, and is ON/OFF-controlled by a microprocessor 9. In this case, a commercial AC voltage input through the power supply input unit 2 and the uninterruptible switch 5 is converted into a stabilized voltage having a constant voltage/constant frequency in a not shown waveform shaping circuit. This stabilized voltage is then supplied to the computer through a power supply line 7, the output switch 6, the power supply output unit 3, and a not shown power supply line. On the other hand, when power outage occurs, a DC voltage from the battery 4 is converted into an AC voltage by a not shown DC/AC converter, and the AC voltage is supplied to the computer through the power supply line 7, the output switch 6, and the power supply output unit 3 as a stabilized voltage of fixed voltage and fixed frequency.
A receiver/driver 8 is connected to the computer through a not shown communication line, and has a function of receiving a command and parameters input by the computer and the function as communication driver. In this case, the command and the parameters are related to the schedule operation explained above. More specifically, an instruction text for performing a schedule operation is used as the command, and power supply stop time, power supply restart time, and a schedule operation time (power supply restart time-power supply stop time) in the schedule operation are used as the parameters. The microprocessor 9 controls the respective parts of the apparatus. In the example shown in FIG. 7, the output switch 6 in the schedule operation is ON/OFF-controlled according to the command and the parameters.
More specifically, the microprocessor 9 executes the schedule operation by a command. When it is power supply stop time designated by parameters, the microprocessor 9 outputs a shut down signal to the output switch 6 to turn off the output switch 6 form ON state. On the other hand, it is power supply restart time designated by the parameters, the microprocessor 9 stops outputting of a shut down signal to turn on the output switch 6 from OFF state. In this manner, in the schedule operation, power supply to the computer is controlled under the control of the microprocessor 9 according to a schedule preset by the command and the parameters.
In the configuration explained above, in an ordinary operation, the uninterruptible switch 5 is turned on to the power supply input unit 2 side, and the output switch 6 is turned on. A commercial AC voltage input through the power supply input unit 2 and the uninterruptible switch 5 is converted into a stabilized voltage of fixed voltage and fixed frequency by a not shown waveform shaping circuit. The stabilized voltage is supplied to the computer through the power supply line 7, the output switch 6, the power supply output unit 3, and the not shown power supply line. When the power outage occurs, the uninterruptible switch 5 is uninterruptedly switched on to the battery 4. Stabilized voltage of fixed voltage and fixed frequency is then supplied from the battery 4 to the computer. Therefore, even if power outage occurs, a subsequent stabilized voltage is continuously supplied after power outage.
When the schedule operation is to be executed, a command and parameters output from an in-operation computer in advance are received in advance by the receiver/driver 8 of the uninterruptible power supply 1 through a not shown communication line, and then received by the microprocessor 9. In this manner, the microprocessor 9 analyses the command and the parameters to set power supply time and power supply restart time in the schedule operation. In this case, the schedule operation is executed to achieve power saving, power economizing, or the like by automatically stopping feeding power at no use time zone of the computer (for instance, midnight).
When a time measurement result of a not shown timer built in the microprocessor 9 becomes power supply stop time, the microprocessor 9 outputs a shut down signal to the output switch 6. In this manner, the output switch 6 in an ON state is turned off, and outputting of a stabilized voltage from the power supply output unit 3 is stopped, so that power supply to the computer is stopped. When a schedule operation time set by the schedule has passed, the time measurement result of the timer is power supply restart time. For this reason, the microprocessor 9 stops outputting of the shut down signal. Therefore, the output switch 6 in an OFF state is turned on, and outputting of a stabilized voltage from the power supply output unit 3 is restarted, so that power supply to the computer is restarted. In this manner, in the conventional uninterruptible power supply 1, power supply is automatically stopped/restarted according to the schedule set by the computer.
As has been explained above, in the conventional uninterruptible power supply 1, the schedule operation is controlled by the microprocessor 9 according to the schedule set by the command and the parameters. However, when a command process in the microprocessor 9 is not correctly executed, or when parameters related to power supply stop time/restart time disappears by some causes, a trouble that a schedule operation cannot be correctly executed occurs. Therefore, in this case, an operation of the computer (the highly reliable load) is enormously affected.
Further, after such a trouble occurs, it is necessary to investigate the cause of the trouble occurrence, and do an appropriate action. In this action against the trouble, information such as the presence/absence of reception of a command/parameters or schedule stop time is a valid trace of investigating the cause. However, in the conventional uninterruptible power supply 1, since the command and the parameters are processed by the microprocessor 9 at once, the command and the parameters may be disappears by a malfunction of the microprocessor 9. Therefore, if a trouble (non-execution of the schedule operation) occurs due to the disappearance of the command and the parameters, it is not able to know the command and the parameters which are traces of investigating the cause.
In addition, in the conventional uninterruptible power supply 1 described above, when an abnormality that outputting of a shut down signal is stopped by any malfunction before power supply restart time in a schedule operation, the abnormality occurrence time or a command at this time does not remain as history. In this manner, in the conventional uninterruptible power supply 1, when important information (abnormality occurrence time, a command, parameters, and the like) for an action against trouble after an abnormality related to the schedule operation occurs cannot be obtained, an effective investigation of the cause cannot be advanced by using the information as a trace. Therefore, a long time is inevitably required for the action against trouble.
The present invention has been made in light of the problems described above. It is an object to provide a power supply apparatus capable of canceling a malfunction in a schedule operation and capable of rapidly making an action against trouble related to the schedule operation, a power supply control apparatus, and a schedule operation monitor control method for a power supply system.
According to one aspect of the present invention, in a power supply apparatus, a schedule operation monitor unit monitors whether an abnormality has occurred in a scheduled operation, and when it is detected that the abnormality has occurred an automatic restoration unit executes the schedule operation in place of a schedule operation control unit. Therefore, if an abnormality occurs, a malfunction in the schedule operation can be canceled without adversely affecting a load.
Further, even if an abnormality occurs, the load is not adversely affected by an operation of the automatic restoration unit, and an abnormal log in occurrence of the abnormality is recorded on a recording unit. Thus, in an action against trouble after the abnormality occurs, the abnormal log is extracted from the recording unit, and the cause for the abnormality can be investigated on the basis of the abnormal log. Therefore, the action against trouble can be rapidly made.
According to another aspect of the present invention, in a power supply control apparatus, a schedule operation monitor unit monitors whether an abnormality has occurred in a scheduled operation, and when it is determined that the abnormality has occurred an automatic restoration unit executes the schedule operation in place of a schedule operation control unit. Therefore, if an abnormality occurs, a malfunction in the schedule operation can be canceled without adversely affecting a load.
Further, even if an abnormality is generated, the load is not adversely affected by an operation of the automatic restoration unit, and an abnormal log in occurrence of an abnormality is recorded on a recording unit. Thus, the abnormal log is extracted from the recording unit in an action against trouble after the abnormality occurs, and the cause for the abnormality can be investigated on the basis of the abnormal log. Therefore, the action against trouble can be rapidly made.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, in a power supply apparatus, a schedule operation monitor unit monitors whether an abnormality has occurred in a scheduled operation, and when it is determined that the abnormality has occurred then an abnormal log is recorded on a recording unit. Thus, the abnormal log is extracted from the recording unit in an action against trouble after the abnormality occurs, and the cause for the abnormality can be investigated on the basis of the abnormal log. Therefore, the action against trouble can be rapidly made.
Further, with reference to the data related to the schedule held by a holding unit, in an action against trouble after an abnormality occurs, classification depending on whether the abnormality is caused by the schedule operation can be easily performed. Therefore, the action against trouble can be rapidly made.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, in a power supply control apparatus, a schedule operation monitor unit monitors whether an abnormality has occurred in a scheduled operation, and when it is determined that the abnormality has occurred then an abnormal log is recorded on a recording unit. Thus, the abnormal log is extracted from the recording unit in an action against trouble after the abnormality occurs, and the cause for the abnormality can be investigated on the basis of the abnormal log. Therefore, the action against trouble can be rapidly made.
Further, with reference to the data related to the schedule held by a holding unit, in an action against trouble after an abnormality occurs, classification depending on whether the abnormality is caused by the schedule operation can be easily performed. Therefore, the action against trouble can be rapidly made.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, in a schedule operation monitor control method, a schedule operation monitor step is provided in which it is monitored whether an abnormality has occurred in a scheduled operation, and when it is determined that the abnormality has occurred then an automatic restoration step of executing the schedule operation is provided in place of executing a schedule operation control step. Therefore, if the abnormality occurs, a malfunction in the schedule operation can be canceled without adversely affecting the load.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, in a schedule operation monitor control method, in a schedule operation monitor control method, a schedule operation monitor step is provided in which it is monitored whether an abnormality has occurred in a scheduled operation, and when it is determined that the abnormality has occurred then an abnormal log is recorded. Thus, in an action against trouble after the abnormality occurs, the cause for the abnormality can be investigated on the basis of the abnormal log. Therefore, the action against trouble can be rapidly made.
Other objects and features of this invention will become apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings.